This Will Turn Us Into Radicals

I don’t know if there are that many times in life that I can say I was left reeling. It’s such an extreme way to feel, but watching the news unfold about Charlie Kirk’s assassination yesterday left me reeling. It was so shocking, so horrifying, knowing that a young father whose goal was open discussion and debate was cut down, silenced by one bullet, in the United States of America.

Online reactions have been just as shocking. Of course grief pours out, sympathy for his family, fear, and anger. But I’ve been stunned by how many voices out there are rejoicing in Charlie’s death. Some people are celebrating, standing in solidarity with the shooter, and that is a hard pill to swallow, even in a country as divided as ours. I know that those voices don’t represent the way the vast majority of Americans feel, but they are many, and they are loud. It’s shocking that even one human being would feel that way, whether publicly or secretly.

I think the day of Charlie’s death will be remembered as a day that we, as Christians, came to a fork in the road. One path leads to radical devotion to Christ and His teachings. Radical compassion. Radical obedience. Radical love. Radical mercy. Soft hearts. Gentle answers. The other path leads to radical political vengeance. Hatred. Bitterness. Rage. Hard hearts. Cruel words. His murder and the commentary that follows will turn us into radicals. The question is: which radical path will we choose?

Jesus showed us how to live in humility. He didn’t do it by being a mousy person, a weak man, or a doormat. He did it by giving us a living picture of what it means to obey the Father, and sometimes that obedience looked like angrily throwing liars out of the temple. Sometimes it looked like boldly confronting the religious elites with the truths of God that they couldn’t grasp. Other times it looked like washing His betrayer’s feet or asking God to forgive the very people who were torturing and murdering Him in His innocence. To say that Jesus didn’t have an impact on His culture because He refused to be bitter and hateful would be an abominable lie. He knew when to speak and when to be silent. His goal was bringing glory to His father, and He did whatever was best in the moment to accomplish that goal.

Should we decide as Christians that our response will be giving up on humanity, forgetting the value of every single human life, spewing as much vitriol as possible in our anger and bitterness, then we are choosing not to follow the example of Christ. We will become radically opposed to His way, spreading hate in His name. And if we choose that route, then we have little reason to feel secure in our salvation. We can’t let fear and rage lure us into a life that is devoid of Christ’s love. We can’t call ourselves Christians if we are empty of love for our enemies.

Jesus talked about a narrow way. It’s a small road, and very few people walk it. It’s the road where we take up a cross and follow our Lord, living lives for His glory alone. We can’t show the world who He is through hate. Unmerciful, cold, hard-hearted, cruel people cannot point others to the goodness of God. The path is narrow because it’s the harder road. Here, He calls us to love those who despise us. He commands us to care for their souls. He tells us that hating someone is no different than shooting them. He requires a radical shift in the way that we respond to this world, and He provides the help of the Holy Spirit, who can take all of our feelings and help us to think rightly about them.

I have no doubt that this tragic killing will make radicals out of us. I pray it makes us radically tender-hearted, radically bold, radically controlled, radically merciful, radically compassionate, radically loving. If we hike this narrow path, there’s no limit to the ways that God could be glorified even in this devastation. Few will choose it. Which way will you go?